


Arrangements

by Scorpius_Wears_Short_Skirts



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Dad Sportacus (LazyTown), I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Short Chapters, Slow Build, Tailoring, glanni is robbie's bitchy cat, gym teacher!sportacus, mundane AU, references to various musicals, tailor!robbie, this fandom owns my soul, you cant tell me robbie doesn't love showtunes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-23 19:49:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9673427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scorpius_Wears_Short_Skirts/pseuds/Scorpius_Wears_Short_Skirts
Summary: Stephanie deserves the world but her father can only pay for so much.





	1. Sounds Like a Deal

**Author's Note:**

> I started posting this on tumblr but the tumblr format doesn't sit right with me while I'm writing. I'm used to Archive coding so I'm taking it off tumblr, editing it, and putting it here.

Sportacus let himself be dragged easily into a costume shop by the name Spoiled Rotten. Stephanie was excited to say the least, skipping through the aisles and looking at all the mannequins until she found the gaudiest, pinkest thing in the store. Sportacus thought the dress looked more like an elaborate cupcake than clothing, but Stephanie wanted to be a fairy princess for her dance recital, and a fairy princess she would be.

“It needs wings… and it’s a bit too big.” Stephanie mused aloud, circling the mannequin the dress was fitted on.

“I’m sure there’ll be a smaller size.” Sportacus reassured, then jumped a bit as he heard a new voice.

“No luck, chief. Ev’ything in here’s one of a kind. Lucky fuh you the boss is in today.” A worker in a striped uniform stated and Sportacus turned around in surprise. “I’m Bobby. Want me to take you to Mista Glaepuh?”

Sportacus blinked. The dress had only just been in his budget range. Surely having it tailored would add to the price and take it out of what he could afford. He looked to Stephanie, who just beamed up at him. He would just have to figure something out.

“Sure!” He answered brightly.

Bobby nodded and turned, shouting. “HEY FLOBBY! Box the pink pwincess and take it to Wobbie. We got a cut-up.”

A shorter man in the same uniform appeared, expertly removing the dress from the mannequin and placing it carefully in a thin, but large, box. He carried the box away. 

“Wight this way!” Bobby chirped, following Flobby to a back room. 

Sportacus and Stephanie shared a look before shrugging and following. 

The back of the dress shop opened to a very large office. The floor was blue and there were tubes at the back wall housing various unfinished costumes on a raised catwalk. There was a desk at the center, a name tag reading ‘Robert Glaepur’. On the desk was a large sewing machine and a plate with half a cake sitting on it. It looked more like a cartoon villains lair than an office.

The man belonging to the name on the desk was up on the catwalk, his back turned as he was adjusting pins on one of the mannequins in an opened tube. He turned slightly to look at the sketchbook on his work table, a fork held in his teeth casually as if he had forgotten it was there with both of his hands busy. 

“Hey Boss! We got a cut-up!” Bobby called as Flobby took the box up to the catwalk. 

Robbie turned all the way around to look and opened his mouth to speak, causing the fork to fall with a clang.

“Another one!? There’s been four just today!”

Bobby shrugged and Sportacus frowned, re-evaluating whether or not Stephanie really needed such an expensive dress when the tailor already seemed to be overworked.

Robbie took the box from Flobby, opened it, and took the dress out. He seemed thoughtful for a moment, then turned his attention to Sportacus, then Stephanie. 

“Which of you is this for?” Robbie asked, gleaning a laugh from the girl.

“It’s for me!” She giggled.

“I figured. Shame.” Robbie muttered, putting the dress back in the box and shifting his eyes to Sportacus. “Your brother could use a break from blue.”

Sportacus snorted at that. “I’m her father, and I like blue!”

“Clearly.” He turned a page in his sketchbook, jotted down a figure, and then handed it over to to Sportacus. “That’s the price for alteration.”

Sportacus looked at it and furrowed his brow. It was now over a hundred dollars over his budget. Looking around, the man did good work and even the new price was a steal considering quality. He sighed deeply.

“I can’t cover this… I’m sorry Stephanie.” He said quietly.

“But…” Stephanie’s face fell. “But you said anything can happen if you try hard enough!”

Sportacus flinched. He had said that. He knelt down to her eye level.

“Sometimes things don’t work out exactly how we like. I’m sure we can find something else, okay?”

Stephanie looked like she was holding back tears, but still nodded and hugged her father. He stood, picking her up and turning to leave.

Robbie watched them go a few steps, then groaned. “Oh stop that. Maybe we can come to an arrangement?”

Sportacus turned around, surprise clear on his face. “What kind of arrangement?”

“You look strong. I could use a bit of help around the house. I’ve been too tired and let it go for a while. You pay the dress’s standard price, then work off the alterations?”

“Please? There’s always a way, right? You always have time after school!” Stephanie begged and happily wiggled down from her father’s arms.

“Sounds like a deal to me.” He took his checkbook from his back pocket, writing out a check for the original price and handing it over.

Robbie looked at the signature and smiled, extending a hand to shake. “Nice to meet you, Magnus Meanswell.” 

“You can just call me Sportacus.” He said as he took the offered hand.

Robbie couldn’t hold back his cackle at that nickname.


	2. What a Mess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The job begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some chapters may be short and I apologize.  
> Also will not upload this as fast as I did with Cephalothorax since I'll be alternating between this and an Original story.

Sportacus arrived at Robbie's house at 3:30 in the afternoon with Stephanie in tow, having walked directly from the school where he worked and she learned. They actually jogged part of the way, the man wearing the small, pink backpack because it was too heavy for Stephanie for a distance. They slowed when she got tired, though Sportacus kept the backpack for her. The walk was spent with Stephanie telling her father all about her day. She was happy it was Friday and she had no homework.

It was no wonder most of the kids he worked with had poor posture with how heavy the books they had to carry were. He would have to bring that up when he had a meeting with the other teachers. Of course, none of them took a gym teacher very seriously, but it was worth a shot. Problems couldn’t be fixed by ignoring them. 

Robbie opened the door with a look of annoyance. “You’re early.”

“Better than late!” Sportacus pointed out cheerfully. “We can take a lap around the block and come back if you want. Nice day for a walk.”

Robbie squinted. “ _Ew._ Come in.” He opened the door wider and ushered the two into his house.

Sportacus instantly lost about fifteen years from his life. 

The floor was littered with paper bags adorned with logos of various fast food places. Clothing was strewn everywhere. With the living room in such a state, he had to hold back a shudder at the thought of what the rest of the house must look like. He certainly had his work cut out for him. He supposed it would be worth it.

“Where would you like me to start?” Sportacus asked, in case Robbie had a certain way he wanted things done.

“I don’t _care._ ” Robbie replied sharply, and passed the dress over to Stephanie, pointing her toward the hallway. “Bathroom’s through there. Go put this on and come back.”

Stephanie did as she was told while her father went on a quest for trash bags. First order of business was to throw out what he could of the appalling mess. As he got to work bagging the various bits or fast food, only a bit shocked when he found a few still containing food, he kept an ear on his daughter and the man sticking pins in the dress around her.

He could hear Stephanie talking to him about how the dress could be bettered, to which Robbie did seem to be listening, though he looked tired. After about an hour the dress was all marked and removed and most of the trash in the house had been eradicated. Robbie dismissed him with instructions to come back on Monday. Sportacus hauled Stephanie up onto his back with her backpack he hadn’t bothered to take off, and jogged home.

“Mr. Glaeper seems lonely.” Stephanie told her father over vegetable soup later that day.

“Oh?” It certainly would explain why the home had been filthy, lonely people often forgot to take care of themselves. “Maybe we can be his friends.” 

Stephanie smiled.


	3. Regularity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is still getting used to eachother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cries*  
> It's so short...

On monday when the small family arrived to the tailor’s house Sportacus wasted no time in getting back to work, clearing up the floors. Stephanie sat down on the floor in front of Robbie’s chair to get her homework done. Robbie himself had a TV table set up with a small sewing machine, the dress inside out and being fed into it. 

The sewing machine was loud and the television was on. That made it a bit difficult for the girl to focus on her homework, so it had taken longer than usual. Upon finishing, she put her homework back in her backpack and took out her diary, though she stared at it instead of writing. 

Sportacus spared her a concerned glance when he noticed her still working, but he had a job to do and he didn’t like taking too many breaks. He made a mental note to talk to her later in case it was something important.

Robbie noticed the child zoning out when he finished up the main machine sewing, picking up scissors to cut away the extra fabric that was no longer needed. 

“You’re quiet.” He gruffed, not minding but finding it an odd contrast from the last visit.

“I’m bored.” Stephanie replied, putting her fluff-tipped pen down and sighing.

“You don’t like TV?” He asked, raising a brow. “You can take the remote if you want.”

“Sometimes, but I’ve been sitting almost all day…” 

Robbie grunted, acknowledging her response before waving his hand toward the sliding glass back door.

“You can go outside if it’s alright with your father. The back yard is fenced in.”

From that point on, Stephanie spent the time after finishing her homework in Robbie’s backyard. She made sure she always brought her soccer ball to play with. Over the next few days it became routine.


	4. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conversations with children are not Robbie's strong suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentines Day, Single Awareness Day, or even just another Tuesday.  
> Tomorrow all the themed candy is going to be so fucking cheap!

Usually when Sportacus came over to work Stephanie would quickly do her homework and then play outside. Today was an exception as it was raining so the pink girl had to stay inside. She laid on her stomach on the floor in front of Robbie’s ridiculous chair, scribbling drawings into a fuzzy diary she kept with her.

Robbie liked to listen to movies and musicals while he worked. He had Hocus Pocus on, despite the fact it was nowhere near Halloween. It didn’t matter. He liked the movie any time of year, finding the witches fun and the talking cat’s dry humor amusing. He even usually sang along to the I Put a Spell on You scene, but settled for only humming along this time as he had company. It was a good movie, and background noise helped him focus as long it was a familiar, controlled thing.

“Mr. Glaepur?” Stephanie spoke up, catching his attention.

“Robbie is fine. What do you want, Kid?”

“What’s a trolimog?” She asked, “Winnifred called Dani that. What’s it mean?”

Seeing no reason not to tell her, he shrugged. “Old English slang for prostitute.”

“What’s a prostitute?”

Right. Stephanie was only eight years old. Robbie sighed, figuring he had set himself up for that. Shame on him for not thinking ahead.

“It’s an occupation that is illegal now, but in earlier times it was just frowned upon. Winnifred was insulting the girl.”

“What’s occupation?”

“A job.”

“What’s illegal?”

“Against the rules.”

Stephanie was silent for a few minutes, obviously thinking as hard as she could, probably wracking her brain for more questions. Robbie was glad she had stopped the question game for now though, and returned to his work, trying to focus. His mind was drawn away from his work again when the girl decided she had to climb into his chair with him, and he adjusted his end table to keep the sharp needles out of her reach. She stayed quiet at least, watching him work for a while until she fell asleep on his lap before the movie even ended.

Sportacus trotted into the living room to declare he was done with the bathroom, but silenced himself when he saw Robbie signal him to be quiet with a finger to his lips. The shorter man grinned at the sight and tiptoed away to put the cleaning supplies back under the kitchen sink. He came back and stepped over to Robbie.

“Do you want me to take her?” Sportacus whispered.

Robbie waved dismissively. “She’s fine. Better not vaccuum today though. Do a quick sweep and you can be done for the day.”

Sportacus nodded enthusiastically, nearly skipping away before reminding himself to be quiet. Stephanie stirred as the door of the broom closet closed a bit loudly, but remained asleep. Robbie made a mental note to have Sportacus fix the door.


	5. Tea Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kids blurt out some of the greatest things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I never plan for Glanni to be included but he just *vague gestures and gurgley growling noises* ya know?

“My dad thinks you’re pretty.” Stephanie decided to blurt when she had come to a stopping point in an essay she was writing.

This comment caused Robbie's fingers to twitch where he was at work embroidering shiny, swirling vein patterns into a wing. He took the needle away and stilled his hand. He listened for a moment to the footsteps on the roof, proof Sportacus was still up there sweeping off the dead leaves. Good. Sportacus had no way of hearing what just came out of his kid’s mouth.

“What gave you that idea?” He asked, returning to the unfinished wing.

“He said so.”

Oh.

“Finish your homework.” Robbie huffed, not at all emotionally equipped to handle the conversation if it continued.

Thankfully the girl dropped it, humming along to Dancing Through Life. Wicked had turned out to be one of the girl’s favorite musicals so Robbie started keeping the dvd case on top of the television. She had good taste, it was one of the greats. Personally Chicago was one of Robbie’s favorites but it wasn’t the most kid-friendly thing.

After a few minutes a black javanese cat in a hot pink spiked collar made himself known. During previous visits he had hidden away but he had apparently grown used to the intruders. Stephanie grinned when she noticed him and reached over to pet him.

“He bites.” Robbie warned, just as the cat hissed and scrambled away.

Stephanie had snatched her hand back, startled at the cat’s overly dramatic exit. She laughed when the initial shock left. She hadn’t been scratched or bitten and the cat was likewise unhurt, having seated himself on top of a bookshelf.

“That is Glanni.” Robbie introduced. “He’s an insufferable drama queen.”

Glanni just glared and began to groom himself, looking highly offended that the girl had tried to pet him. Afterward everything went as usual. Stephanie finished her homework to go play outside. Sportacus came back in and washed his hands once the roof was done. He turned to go tidy up something else. Robbie stopped him.

“You know how to take breaks, don’t you?” The tailor asked, tying off the line he had just finished.

“I’m fine.”

Robbie scoffed and set his work aside, pushed himself out of his chair, and crossed into the kitchen. He filled a kettle with water and set it on one of the eyes of the stovetop. Sportacus watched him, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

“I can do that.” He offered.

“No. This is temperamental.” Robbie gruffed, turning the heating dial, opening the oven, taking a wrench out and banging it roughly against the edge of the stovetop. “Go ask if Pinky wants tea and sit down for a minute or two.”

Sportacus was concerned about the sorry state of the other man’s cookware, but left him to it and did as told. Stephanie came in and sat on the floor. Unwilling to take the only chair, Sportacus sat cross legged on the floor as well. Stephanie moved to sit in her father’s lap and he absently began braiding a few strands of her hair.

Tea didn't take long to make and soon the three were comfortably sipping away to the finale of Wicked.


	6. Early Dismissal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its okay to feel things.

Stephanie was absent the next visit, having caught a fever and staying with her uncle Milford for the day. Robbie had also brought a set of folding chairs so tea could be a common occurrence. Watching Sportacus work tirelessly made him tired so he felt the need to set a break time.

“So, where’s the mother? Dump the kid on you and run?” Robbie asked, his tone a bit bitter as he thought of his own childhood being left with his less than suitable mother.

“No, uh…” Sportacus began, setting his teacup down.

Robbie caught on to the sudden shift from cheerful energy to a more somber look to the man sitting across from him. He realised he had said something insensitive, but it was already out of his mouth. He adjusted the seam he was working on, brow furrowing.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realise…” He began.

“It’s alright, it was a long time ago.” Sportacus looked to the window, a ghost of a frown touching his features. “Stephanie was just a baby. Myra was sick… She was doing well for a while but the pregnancy was a surprise. I told her she couldn’t handle it but she wanted the baby.” He let a light laugh escape him, a residual reaction to the memory before his gaze dropped to the floor. “It took too much out of her. She was bedridden after… She held on for a few months. She got tired easy, and always asked me to lay with her. Last time we took a nap together, Stephanie so small between us… When I woke up Myra was already cold.”

A sob ripped itself from Sportacus’s chest, uninvited. A single tear had already trailed down his cheek, leaving a track even though he couldn’t remember letting it fall. He covered his mouth with his hand, doing his best not to break down further. 

“I should get back to work.” Sportacus moved to stand, but a stern ‘Sit,’ halted him and he settled back into the chair, hiding his face in his hands.

Robbie set his pile of fabric and needle aside and crossed the small room to lay a hand on the other’s back, rubbing a slow circle into it. They stayed in relative silence for a moment, neither needed to say more than they had.

The clock ticked. There was a bird singing very close to an east window. The jingle of an ice cream truck passed without stopping. The ambience was peaceful, and the hand on his back helped Sportacus ground himself until he had calmed. 

“I’m sor-” Sportacus began.

“Don’t.” Robbie interrupted sharply, then corrected his tone before continuing. “I was rude. There’s nothing to apologize for. Go wash your face before you go home. You’re done for the day.”

Sportacus forced a smile and nodded. “Okay Robbie!”

Sportacus disappeared down the hallway to the bathroom, the spring back in his step. Robbie found himself a bit less annoyed by such a positive display. It made sense now that he knew more of the story. 

A person just couldn’t be as happy as Sportacus seemed to be all the time, or at least not a sane person. Sportacus was pretending, he realised, for the sake of a daughter that couldn’t even remember her mother. Sportacus was genuinely nice of course, but the constant joy and energy was a mask. 

Sportacus went home two hours earlier than usual. Robbie sighed. The house seemed too quiet now. Glanni hopped up onto the arm of the chair. Robbie and the cat stared at eachother before the latter let out a low mewl.

"Shut up."


	7. Finished Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theres a fine line between being alone and being lonely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about no post yesterday.

The next day when Sportacus came to work, Robbie actually forgot he had company. Stephanie was still sick at her uncle’s. Without the child’s noise to remind him of the others presence, he forgot he wasn’t alone. 

The movie he chose to watch that day was Little Shop of Horrors. He just had to sing along to Steve Martin’s song about dentistry. How could anyone not sing along? 

Two rooms over, ironing laundry, Sportacus paused to listen, holding the iron upright and away from the clothing. He was a bit surprised to hear his language coming from the other man, though thinking about it Robbie did have the same accent. It wasn’t as thick as Sportacus’s and from a different region, easy to overlook as he tended to be dramatic with his voice. 

Despite the song being about sadism of all things, Robbie’s voice was nice. The song was catchy too.

Robbie had lost himself to music and was very startled when Sportacus walked into his field of vision, carrying a wicker basket of folded clothing. He screamed, which made the other man jump a good three feet in the air and dropped the laundry basket before looking at him with wide eyes. The sound of cat’s claws catching on carpet thundered in the following second of silence as Glanni fled one of his hiding spots to find another.

“What happened?” Sportacus asked, concerned.

_”Don’t sneak up on people!”_

Sportacus visibly deflated when he realized Robbie was unhurt and there was no danger. 

“I didn’t mean to startle you, I’m sorry.” Sportacus apologized, kneeling to pick up the fallen laundry.

Afterward Robbie insisted Sportacus go home early to take care of Stephanie. He had never had a sick kid but a fever two days in a row didn’t sound good to him. He had Sportacus take another full day off too just for good measure.

He ended up finishing the dress while nobody but his cat was with him. It was beautiful and the parts Stephanie had suggested made it even moreso. He frowned. The dress was done. His house was clean. There would be no further reason for the small family to visit once he handed over his work.

How dare they imprint so much of themselves into Robbie’s daily routine? Had they no manners? Did he actually want the far too energetic teacher practically doing flips around his house? Did he want the pink girl talking his ear off and making noise with her silly soccer ball and boombox outside? 

He did.

He thought of just ripping the thing up and starting over to give himself more time but he couldn’t bring himself to actually do it. It wouldn’t be fair and he had already spent weeks on it. The dance recital was probably soon. He didn’t actually know the day or time but that hardly mattered. He hadn’t been invited, only commissioned.

He put the dress away in its box so Glanni couldn’t claw it or shed on it and made himself some tea, resigned to drink it by himself. After about an hour he had only taken two sips and it had grown cold.

Robbie sighed and left his tea by his chair. On a whim he took out a roll of blue crushed velvet, running his hand over the soft texture. He left it out on the table and went to his desk, making a quick sketch of a suit jacket, then set it near the fabric roll, leaving it for the morning. He then settled back into his chair, turning on the television to a random channel and then slowly drifting to sleep there.


	8. Concern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weird excercise happenes when Sport is bored or thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whats in the boooox?

The house felt empty. It was too quiet without Stephanie running around and talking his ear off. Lonely without Sportacus who made idle, passing conversation with him. What Robbie had once thought of as peaceful solitude was now suffocating him. He missed them. He missed him. Arguing with his cat wasn’t enough anymore. 

Unwilling to go into his place of work he took the roll of fabric he had set out the other night and laid it flat. He started marking out a shape. He felt fairly confident that he had seen Sportacus enough to guess his measurements.

Across town, Sportacus felt like he had far too much time on his hands. He had taken the day off from his job at the school as well as Stephanie’s fever had progressed into a full cold. She was asleep on the couch now and he was nearby, trying to burn his energy off with quiet, but eccentric pushups. This had gone on for two hours and he had gotten bored enough to start doing pushups without using his feet. It was tricky but he could do about ten in a row before having to set his feet down again.

“Dad stop breaking gravity.” Stephanie croaked, revealing that she had woken up. 

“Good morning! Or… It’s noon now, actually. Do you want to eat?”

“Nooo…” The girl whined, rolling over and shoving her face into the back of the couch. 

“At least drink something?” Sportacus suggesting. “You need to stay hydrated. You can drink whatever you want.”

The girl took a moment to think about it before mumbling something into the upholstery. Her father didn’t quite catch it and asked her to repeat herself.

“Can I have tea? The kind Mister Robbie makes?”

“Of course you can!” Sportacus agreed.

There was not at all any teas in the house other than decaffeinated green and various herbals. Sportacus didn’t even know what kind of tea Robbie made. He thought it may have been earl grey or something of the like, but he couldn’t be sure. He would have to ask. The only problem there was that he did not have the other man’s phone number. 

He would have to jog over to the tailor’s house and ask, if he was even home. Then he would have to run to the store and get a box. That would take about half an hour. Maybe forty-five minutes if he paced himself. He didn’t want to leave Stephanie by herself for too long but if she wanted tea she would have it. He made sure she had water and tossed another blanket over her before grabbing his keys and leaving.

It only took twelve minutes to get to Robbie’s house. The school was farther. Still he had rushed and worked up a sweat. He knocked on the door and was surprised when it opened and a box was shoved into his hands before it shut again. 

Sportacus needed a second to process this before he could gather his wits and knock again. Robbie opened the door in confusion.

“You have your dress. What else do you want?” The tailor snipped.

Sportacus frowned, concerned about the agitated attitude. He was used to Robbie being a bit of a grump but this was a different kind of negative. Whatever it was, the other clearly wanted to be left alone.

“What… Um… What tea do you use?” Sportacus asked lamely.

Robbie narrowed his eyes and left the doorway, the door wide open. Glanni peered out but didn’t make any move for escape. The cat just looked up at Sportacus with what seemed like a disappointed expression, ears laid back against his skull and his tail curling toward the floor. Sportacus picked at the corner of the box he was holding and watched the cat as he listened to Robbie shuffle around in the kitchen. 

A minute later he had a tea box shoved at him, nearly hitting him in the nose. He opened his mouth to speak again, but the door had once again been shut in his face. He huffed out a sigh through his nose, mustache twitching. He adjusted the dressbox under his left arm and walked home with it, now worried about two people.


End file.
